Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-09-30
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Weekly Discourse Of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher
Subjects "The Prime ssinis4cr''

through tholgh 1t cost Him thou,
sand worlds There are men constantly in
trouble lost they shall not be appreciated.
Every man cones in the end to be valued at
just what he is worth. How often you see
men turn out sll tbeir turces to crusH
o,s9 man or set Of men. How do they
Eucceadi No better than did the govern
ment that tried 10 crush Joseph, a Scripture
character upon which we speak to-day. 1t
would be an insult TO suppose that you wero
not ali familiar with The life of Joseph how
his jealous brothers threw him into the pit
but, seeing caravan of Arabian merchants
moving along on their camol5 with spices and
gums, that loaded the air with aroma, sod
their brother to these merchants, who carried
him down into Egypt; how Joseph was sold
TO Potiphar, q man of influence aud Office; how
by his Integrity he raised himself to high posi-
tiOn in the realm, until under the false charge
OF vile wretch he was hurled into the peni-
tentiarY; how in prison he commanded re.
speot AMI confidence; how by the inteIpreta-
tion of Paraoh's dream he was freed and be-
came the chief man in government, the Biz
narck of the nation; how In time of famine
Joseph had the control Of q Storehouse
which he had filed during the seven
years Of plenty; how when his brothers who
had thrown him into the pit and sold him into
captivity appiei for corn he ssnt them no nc
with their beasts borne down under the
heft of tie corn sacks; how ths sin against
their brother which had so long been hiddeq
came out at last and was returned by that
brothers forgiveness and kindness, an IL
'ustrious triumph of Christian principle.
Learn from this story in the first place,
that the world Is compelled to honor Christian
character. Potiphar was only man Of the
world, yet Joseph rose in his e3tima5ion until
all tue affairs Of that great house were COM
mitted to his charge. From this servant no
honors or condolences were withheld. When
Joseph was in prison be soon won the heart
of the keeper, and, though placed
there for icing a scCunlrcl, he soon
convinced the jaier that he was an in
noe ant man, aad, released from close confine-
ment, he became n general superintendent
of prison affairs, Wherever Joseph was
placed, whether a servant in the house of
Potiphar or Il prisoner in the penitentiary, he
became the first man everywhere ald is an
Illustration OF tue truth lay d0wn, that the
world Is compelled to honor Christian char
acter.
There are those who affect to despiso re-
ligious life They speak OF it as a system OF
courage aud nobility. They say he has be-
meaned himself. They pretend to have no
more confidence in him since his conversion
than before his conversion But all that is
hypocrisy. 1t is impossible for any man
not to admire and conade in a Chris
tian who shows that he has really become q
child of God and is what he professas to be.
You cannot despise a son or daughter Of
the Lord God Almighty. OF course half and
half religious character wins no approba-
ton. Redwald, the King of the Saxons, after
Christian baptism had two altaTs one for
the worship of God and the other for the
sacrifice of devils. You may have q contempt
for such men, for mere pretensions of
religion, but when you behold the excellency
Of Jesus Christ come out in the life Of one OF
his disciples, all that there is good and noble
in your soul rises up into admiration.
Though that Christian be as far beneath
you in estate as the Egyptian slave of whom
we are discussing, by al irrevocable
law Of our nature Potiphar and Pharoah
will always esteem Joseph. Chrysostom
when threatened with death by Eudoxia, thu
Empress, sent word to her saying: "9o tell
her that | fear nothing but NJ Such no
bility of character will always be applauded.
There was something in Agrippa and Felix
which demanded th9ir respect for Paul, the
rebel q ga nst government. ! doubt not they
would wiling y have yieiIel their Office and
dignity for the thousandth part of that
true herosn which beanIed in the
eye and be4t in the heart Of the unconquar-
able apostle. Tbs intidel AMI wording are
compelled to honor in their hearts, though
! they may not Cu og2e with their lips, a
Christian firm In persecution, cheerful in
poverty, truatful i'll losses, triumphant in
death. | find Christ an men in all professions
and occupations, and l find them respected,
and honofcd, and successful. John Frederick;
| Oberlin alleyiating ignorance and distress,
John Howard passing from dungeon to laz-
arctic with healing for the body and the soul,
i Elizabeth Frye coming to the proligate of
Newgate prison to shake down their obdu,
racy as the angel came to the prison at Phil,
lippi, driving open tie doors and snap
! ping locks and ca lins, as we'll as
the lives of thousands of the follow.
ers of Jesus who havo devoted them
selves to the temporal and spiritual
welfare of the race, are monuments of the
Christian religion that Shall not crumble
said: II would like to become Christian il
only knew what REL gion is But if this
! lying and cheating and bad behavior among
men who profess to bs good is reli rion,
want none of It," But my friends If | an
an artist in home and a man comes to me and
asks what the art OF painting is, must not
show him the daub OF some mere pretender
will take him to the Raphlels and the
MlcnaeI Angelos. 1t is most unfair and elis
honest ID take the ignominious failures i
/ CHRISTIAN profession instead Of the goriou
successes. The Bible and the church are grea
picture galleries filed with masterpieces.
Furthermore, we learn from this story Q
Joseph that the result of persecution is eleva
ton. Had it not been for his being sold int
Egyptian bondage by his malicious brother
and his false imprisonment, Joseph woulC
never have become Prime Minister. Every
body accepts the promise "Blesse
are they that are prosecuted for right
eeousness sake, for theirs is tn
kingdom of heaven" but they d.
not realize the fact that this principle az
plies to worldly as we'll as spiritual success
Had it not been for Alschines who brough
impeachment against Demosthenes, the In
mortal Grafton De Corona, would never hav
been delivered. Men rise to high politica
position through Misrepresentation and tn
assault of the public. Public abuse is all tina
some OF our public men have ha
to rely upon for their elevation. I
has brought to them what talent anC
executive force could never have achieved
Many OF those who are making great effor
for place and power will never succeed jus
because they are not Of enough importanc,
to be abused. 1t is the nature of man tx
gather about those who are prosecuted anC
defend them, and they are apt to forget tht
faults of thoss who are tho subjects of at
tack while attempting to drive back TIN
slanderero. Helen Stirk, Scotch marty
condemned with her husband to death fo
Christ's sake, said to her husband "Rejoice
we have livedtogether many joyful days, bu
this day wherein we must die together ougf
to be most joyful to us bot1. Therefore
will not bid you COOL night, for soon we shal
meet in the heavenly kingdom By the flas
of the furnace best Christian character i
demonstrated.
go into another department, and l fin
that those great denominations OF Christian
which have been most abused have sprea
the most rapidly. No good man was eve
more vilely maltreatel than John Wesley
His followers were hooted at and maligne
and called by every detestable name that il
fernal ingenuity could invent, but the hottt
the persecution the more rapid the spread c
that denomination, until you know what
great host they have become and what a trC
mendous force for God and truth they az
welding all the world over. 1t was persecl
ton that gave Scotland to Presbyterianisn
1t was persecution which gave our own Ian